Chile's protest street art Favorite 

"The walls of the streets of downtown Santiago are covered with stickers, art, words and posters.

The messages are varied and range from "Feminist power" to "All cops are bastards". They have taken over the walls of Zona Cero (Ground Zero), the name given to the area around Plaza de la Dignidad, where anti-government protests have been held - and at times brutally repressed by police - since 18 October.

The protests were originally triggered by a rise in the metro fare in the capital, Santiago, but soon became a much wider movement denouncing inequality in Chile, the high costs of healthcare and poor funding of education. The slogans daubed on the walls, such as "Piñera must quit", reflect some of the anger at the government and the President, Sebastián Piñera, which many Chileans are expressing.

Óscar Núñez has been at the forefront of the protests since they first started. A graphic designer, he decided to use his experience to make street art under the name of Mr Owl.

He says that street art offers a non-violent way of creating a dialogue between him and others. "I started using the image of a military officer in a peaceful yoga pose. It's ironic and fresh but my favourite part is that other graffiti artists have put their own touches to that image," he says. He explains that people would paint the eyes red in a reference to the hundreds of protesters who have been blinded by projectiles shot by police.

Alejandro Conteras, 33, is a protester and photographer whose large prints adorn the facade of the Gabriela Mistral cultural centre in Santiago.

He says that the walls of the city have become a canvas where subjects that are not covered by the country's media can be tackled. "The press won't talk about the protests? Then we will do the task ourselves."